Bratwursts, originally known as "bratbests," eventually became known by their current name thanks to an aggressive smear campaign on the part of local hot-dog competitors. Today's Groupon puts the Teutonic tubular encased meat back in fashion with $15 worth of mighty brats and crisp libations at Milwaukee Brat House for $7. No mere brat stand, brat hut, or brat yurt, the Milwaukee Brat House is a bona fide braterie that serves all its draft brews in pairs so that diners can hold one in each hand while eating a brat with the third.

Germany's famously slow-grilled, handheld miracles wrapped in pretzel rolls compose most of the Milwaukee Brat House menu. Along with satisfying stand-bys like the famous bratwurst ($7), marinated in beer and onions before tucking into its salted pretzel-roll bed, sausagists can also sample the Italian brat ($7), grilled and heated over marinara sauce and mixed peppers. The Brat House Reuben marries beef brisket with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese on rye ($8), paving the way for an autobahn's worth of fine-tuned German sandwich engineering. Try the pulled pork sandwich ($7.50) or the Brat House BLT with thick-cut hickory bacon ($7.50).

Any hearty helping at the Milwaukee Brat House can be washed down with a double dose of Spotted Cow, Guinness, Smithwick's, Lake Front IPA, Brat House Lite and Dark Ales, and more. Trick a sightless belly into thinking it's summertime by flooding it with hot, grilled grub and cool libations. If it starts to make accordion and tuba noises, jump up and down in circles with a dance partner until it stops.

Reviews

Maxim magazine named Milwaukee Brat House Hottest Sausagefest on its "Eat it, America" list. Urban Milwaukee loves the brat-centric menu:

• Located across the street from the legendary Usinger’s Famous Sausage, Brat House serves up a juicy, all-pork sausage—plain or piled with onions, sauerkraut, and cheese—and your choice of side for the righteous price of $7. Our rec? The baked beans made with ground sirloin and bacon. Pair with: Dual nine-ounce mugs of ice-cold Schlitz. Then, for the love of God, eat a breath mint. – Maxim
• Another reason to be excited about the Milwaukee Brat House is that finally you’ll have a place to take your family and friends to enjoy a delicious bratwurst. Sure, you can get a brat at a lot of places around Milwaukee, but the brat is just an after thought on the menu. I don’t want to go to a big fancy restaurant to get a bratwurst, I want to go sit at a table somewhere and look at a menu that is dominated by the notion of the bratwurst. Plain and simple, feed me delicious meat. – Jeramey Jannene, Urban Milwaukee

One hundred percent of Urbanspooners like it, and Yelpers rate it four stars:

• The beer cheese soup will send you into a lactose and grease induced, artery clogging coma of bacon and Wisconsin cheddar deliciousness. – James S., Yelp